I’m an average guy who lives with my lovely partner-in-crime, Emily, in the Wasatch Front area in Utah. I’m Mormon, I love drumming, snowboarding, soccer, and writing. I have re-conceptualized this web site many times, but at the moment I’m thinking of using it simply to post random thoughts, organized or otherwise. I really enjoy writing and have for some time, but I’ve never really done much public writing unless you count Facebook :), so I’m kinda thinking it would be fun to stretch out a little online. I had a high school English teacher that tried to get me to consider writing as a career, but my journal has been the only place I’ve really made serious attempts at doing it regularly or even semi-formally. I feel I am good at coming up with ideas and turns of phrase, but I tend to falter in the final execution and run verbose, so maybe I can sharpen my writing skills a little.

I have a longtime interest in religion and politics (the two unbroachable subjects among polite people!), so I’ll probably write mostly about those. I’m pretty unconventional and non-comformist in the way I approach many things in life, and I think it shows in my thought process, and hence in my writing. Writing is very therapeutic for me, but it’s probably inadvertently revealing. So, let it be known: “here there be monsters!” You’ve been properly warned. 😈

Although many blogs seem like calls for attention, I’m not at all intending on being widely read by any means. But hey, if anyone happens upon something I publish, more power to them. I owe a lot to people who have bravely bared their souls online, so I’d love to think something I write might similarly inspire someone else.

And yeah, even though I’m a web developer, don’t be surprised if I just use a standard WordPress template. I did customize it and hack up the code some to make it more respectable on the back end, though.

My Aspiration

Given the controversial or sensitive nature of much of my writing, I have a simple pair of guidelines that I strive to follow:

Focus on the positive and constructive arguments for my position instead of just using negative arguments against opposing positions. Debate is ideally about getting positive results, whether that means helping others understand a new perspective better or persuading them to change their views.

Instead of telling people what they believe is wrong, try to present an alternative belief that’s even better.

Of course, I fail to meet these standards frequently, but hopefully by posting them, I can better hold myself to them and thus improve the tone of my writing.